As reported by the Discoveryon academic website on May 18, 2009, archeologists at Iran’s Sialk Mound recently discovered a mysterious burial ritual dated to approximately 9,000 years ago. Sialk is located in the center of Iran.

The ancient Sialk Ziggurat located near the city of Kashan, is generally acknowledged to be tone of the focal origins of technology, industry and even religious thought in Iran. Recentl discoveries have shed new light on the genesis of religious rituals in ancient Iran.

Hassan Fazeli (the director of Iran’s Archeology Research Center) has stated:

“In this 9,000-year-old practice, four bodies were burned at a heat of 400 to 700 degrees. The ash and remains of the bodies were then buried in a jar…Traces of red petals were found in the jar. Archeologists believe red flowers signified life and eternity in ancient Persia…A burial ritual encompassing burning has never been observed in Iran…It makes the rare discovery of great importance“

An ancient skeleton discovered at the Sialk site.

The recent exciting discoveries have resulted in the convergence of a larger archaeological team at the site. These include archaeologists not just from Iran but France, Italy, England and Germany. This new team has been examining the northern mound at the site for a week.

Pottery from Sialk. This particular item has been dated to 1000-800 BC and is now housed at the British Museum.

About Dr. Kaveh Farrokh

Dr. Kaveh Farrokh is dedicated to the Advancement of Ancient Iranian and Classical Studies. The relationship between ancient Iran and the civilizations of the Greco-Roman world (and its European successors), India, China and the Far East, and the Arabo-Islamic world are a major focus of this website. Civilizations are rarely conceived in a vacuum and are often the result of the synthesis of a number of elements, examples being the Roman Empire, ancient Iran and India.